Imran Khan

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Imran Khan
Correspondent | Pakistan
Biography

Imran Khan is a roving correspondent based in Doha.

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By Imran Khan in Africa on January 13th, 2012
Art work by Libyan graffiti artist Adnan Al Gargani [Imran Khan]

Over the last four weeks I have crisscrossed what feels like the whole of Libya, but in reality is probably only half of it.

The one constant in every town I have visited is the sometimes extraordinary, sometimes awful graffiti that covers every white wall.

After the fighting (and probably during it knowing the fearless nature of Libyans), graffiti artists took to the streets and painted.

They painted massive patriotic flags with slogans that encouraged the rebels.

They painted downright crude and wicked caricatures of the Gaddafi family and regime that compared them to, well, rats.

It's worth remembering Gaddafi called the rebels rats.

But one piece really caught my eye.

Silhouetted against the red, green and black of the Libyan flag was a scarf-wearing protester, her eyes full of the promise of revolution.

By Imran Khan in Africa on December 28th, 2011
Rundown and bullet ridden, the Bani Walid neighbourhood looks like many others across the country.

At first glance, the neighbourhood looks like many in Libya: rundown and bullet ridden.

But, as I began to speak to people, I heard a chant that I hadn't heard since before the revolution.

"Muammar wbas", which translates as "Muammar, that's enough". It's a pro-Gaddafi chant, implying that now deceased dictator Colonel Muammar Gaddafi is all Libyans need, or needed. 

The neighbourhood where I heard this slogan was in the city of Bani Walid. It was a stronghold of Gaddafi loyalists that fought hard against the rebels.

On a makeshift football pitch, young men dressed in jeans and flip flops kick a ball around.

By Imran Khan in Africa on December 27th, 2011
[EPA]

Zawarah is yet another battle-ravaged town, one of a number that dot the Libyan landscape.

What makes it different is precisely the thing that meant it saw heavy fighting during the worst days of the revolution.

By Imran Khan in Africa on December 22nd, 2011
War-ravaged buildings are a common sight in the Misrata neighbourhood.

Walking down Tripoli Street in Misrata and you can see the scars of Libya’s war everywhere.

Wrecked shells of buildings compete with burned-out tank wrecks for your attention. On Tripoli Street everything is magnified. It’s like someone decided all of Libya's problems should be encapsulated in a one kilometer-long stretch.

And what a kilometer-long strip it is: bullet holes pockmark everything and artillery rounds have punched through entire buildings.

(It's a bit odd to look into a building and see straight out the other side through a shell hole.)

At one end of the street stands a grand building. Marble steps lead up to a palatial entrance and chandeliers hang from its vaulted ceilings.

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By Imran Khan in Africa on December 19th, 2011
Photo by Imran Khan/Al Jazeera

In a disused naval base on the shores of Tripoli amidst decaying buildings is a curious sight.

In one of the utilitarian structures, more used to naval men discussing naval things, children sing and dance.

They are sons and daughters of the Tawarga people. Tawarga is a mid-size town south east of the Libyan capital, Tripoli. 

The residents came from all over sub-Saharan Africa and settled there generations ago. 

During the revolution, the Tawarga people found themselves besieged by forces loyal to Muammar Gaddafi, the former Libyan leader who was killed in October at the height of the uprising. Gaddafi forces used the strategic location as a staging post against the rebels.

One of the Tawarga leaders is Ahmed Mohammed. I ask him what happened during the fighting. 

"It was August the 12th when heavy shelling hit the town. We knew Gaddafi forces were in, and we as a people were divided," he says. 

By Imran Khan in Africa on December 16th, 2011

It was February 15th this year when a few young men gathered in a small square in the Libyan port city of Benghazi.

Inspired by the events in neighbouring Tunisia they sang songs and chanted anti regime slogans.

That small gathering erupted into mass protests and suddenly Benghazi awoke.

By February 17, a few men had become a few thousand and Benghazi led Libya to freedom after months of war and bloodshed.

Almost 9 months on and walking around Benghazi  you get a real sense of what it must have been like to be a part of the revolution.

The pictures of the dead hang everywhere, the dates of birth reminding you that war is a game for young men. 

Tags: Libya
By Imran Khan in Africa on December 15th, 2011
Photo by AFP

Friday will see a key development in Libya's bid to rebuild its war-torn country.

Diplomats have said the central bank of Libya and the Libyan foreign banks are free to do business again.

The Security Council at the United Nations has had both institutions on a sanctions list since February when the rebellion began.

The figures are mind boggling: Some $150bn has been frozen.

That money is desperately needed. Libya cannot function without it, and its oil revenues are not enough at the moment to run even the most basic services.

Those who used to work in the banking sector have had to find alternative work.

Sulieman El-Dressi used to work for one of the Libya's biggest banks. Since the revolution began he has not been able to go back.

He says the effect has been devastating for the vast majority of Libyans.

"The system just stopped, and that meant no money was flowing through.

By Imran Khan in Africa on December 14th, 2011
[Photo by Reuters]

From the air, there isn’t a single country in the world that doesn't look like it’s at peace – regardless of what is happening on the ground.

Flying into Libya's capital Tripoli via Istanbul at midday, the scene is no different.

It has only been a few weeks since Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi was killed and Tripoli International Airport already feels like the front line in a town emerging. But where it’s going, no one really knows.

Getting off the plane are businessmen talking of deals and diplomats shaking bits of paper, as TV crews harass them and try to keep track of what seems like thousands of flight cases.

All the while a ragtag group of soldiers stand guard.

Some of them look like an undisciplined bunch. Others have more serious looks etched across their faces.

The “no smoking” signs seem like they have recently been put up, but the stench of cigarettes still lingers in the air.

By Imran Khan in Asia on November 19th, 2011
The government feared a military coup by Pakistan's senior military and intelligence leadership [Getty]

He has been described as a "seasoned operator" and Pakistan's best captain for the treacherous political playing field that is diplomacy in Washington. But Husain Haqqani, Pakistan's ambassador to Washington, used the social media site Twitter a few hours ago to say that he was "Heading back to the motherland".
 
At the time of writing, it's unclear whether he is in fact on his way to Pakistan. Some suggest his wife has fled the country for fear that he would be arrested on his return.
 
The country he flies into is baying for his blood. Opposition leader Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan was quoted in local media saying: “This issue won't get resolved by somebody's resignation. It constitutes a treason charge."
 
Treason is a big word. Haqqani is under fire for allegedly helping a Pakistani-American businessman, Mansoor Ijaz, to secretly convey to the then top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, a plea.

By Imran Khan in Africa on October 21st, 2011
Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi with his 'African Princess', US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice

Hypocrisy.

It's a powerful word, and one that sends many  people into defensive mode. But, is there any other word to describe how the West treated the Libyan people in the years before the Libyan revolution?
 
Watching world leaders speak solemnly about Colonel Muammar Gaddafi's death, taking care not to gloat, has been an eye-opening experience.
 
The very same countries lining up to congratulate the Libyans are the very same countries who supported him, rehabilitated him and ignored his vicious tactics in suppressing his people for one simple reason. It was in their interests.
 
Now, that might not be ground breaking news to anyone, but it is worth recanting how the West fell back in love with the Libyan leader.
 
Great Britain was the first off the block.

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Imran Khan
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Imran Khan is a roving correspondent based in Doha.

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